What Exactly is Gay Friendly

How many times have you heard “We’re Gay friendly?” I was having lunch the other day at the Liberty Cafe with Alison Terry-Evans , founder of San Francisco’s Hillgirlz.com.  Great site.  At one point we began to talk about the LGBT travel industry. Over the years there’s been an explosion of travel related services focusing on the LGBT community. LGBT travel is a $54 billion dollar industry. That’s a lot of moola. So, it’s no surprise that corporations who have historically ignored the LGBT community are now creating programs to attract this lucrative market. They use phrases like we’re gay friendly. I hadn’t given it much thought as I was just happy to feel apart of and to feel validated by the corporate establishment. Maybe now I would not have to field questions like two double beds or one king? Yet, I seriously started thinking well what exactly does Gay friendly mean? Well let’s see. It could mean that we believe all persons are entitled to the priviledges granted to all Americans regardless of sexual preference. It could mean that we believe all people are created equal regardless of sexual preference. It could mean you have a lot of moola and we want it. We’ve mastered the art of persuasive marketing and we’ll do whatever we have to in order to get a piece of the fat ass $54 billion dollar pie. We haven’t really supported you as community but we realize that many of you have a tremendous amount of disposable income. We realize that many of you love to travel. So, we’ve had a change of heart and come to our senses.  It pays to be Gay friendly.  But what is gay friendly.  Well were hoping that it embodies more than an add campaign to target gay dollars. We’re hoping that it reflects a corporate belief and philosophy in the value of all humans regardless of gender preferences.  We’re hoping that gay friendly extends beyond the bottom line to a real presence in corporate giving, hiring and management.   We’re still not really sure what is gay friendly but one thing we are sure of is that we know  it when we feel it.